Saturday, April 16, 2011

Bitoque - Portuguese Steak

I think this is one of those Portuguese dishes that everyone knows about and is so popular that you can't go to a Portuguese restaurant without seeing it on the menu.

Steak and Chips (fries) seems to be a male favorite no matter if you're Portuguese or not, I have yet to find a guy who doesn't like a big steak and a serving of fries.

Bitoque - pronounced BEE-TOCK is delicious. Everytime I went to a restaurant in Portugal or even back home in South Africa, I ordered it, very few times I requested something else.

Just as with every other dish in world, everyone has a different way of making it and there are some variations here and there but this is, for the most part, the traditional way it's served across Portugal and Portuguese communities all over the world.

Bitoque

4 frying steaks (you don't want thick steaks for this so if yours are a little on the thick side, use a meat tenderizer and pound them down a bit)
4 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
olive oil
butter
salt and pepper to taste
bay leaves
2 garlic cloves, finely diced (yes, I'm posting it twice because these you'll need these for the marinade)
white wine (if you don't want to use the wine, you can omit it)

Fries
White Rice
Lettuce, tomato and onion salad
4 fried eggs

The morning of the day you're serving these for dinner, go ahead and marinate your steaks in salt and pepper, bay leaves (just one or two), diced garlic and white wine. (I don't measure any of this stuff so I don't have an amount, just pour a little bit of white wine over the steaks). Cover and place in refrigerator until you're ready to fry them up.

Add a little bit of olive oil to a skillet, add the 4 smashed garlic cloves and about 2 tablespoons of butter. Fry over medium heat until hot and the garlic starts popping.

Add the steaks, discard the marinade. Fry for about 15 minutes or so until they're cooked through. Remember to turn them over half way through so they fry up nicely on either side. You'll have a bit of gravy in there and that's good, we want that.

In the meantime, peel and cut your potatoes into sticks and fry them until golden brown. If you don't want to fry them you can certainly bake them in the oven, but for this dish I prefer to fry them.

Cook up a little bit of rice with a dash of salt and a little butter.

Make the salad, just a simple mix of lettuce, sliced tomatoes and onions, drizzle on some olive oil, vinegar and salt and pepper.

Once the steaks and the fries are ready. In a small skillet add a little butter and fry up the eggs, one at a time.

Now let's put it together.

Place the steak on a plate, top with the fried egg. On either side of the steak and egg put fries, salad and a little mound of rice, just like I showed you a few posts below. Drizzle some of the sauce from the steak over the rice and egg and VOILA. You're done.

Now sit down and enjoy it and if you do try it, come back and let me know what you thought :)

7 comments:

Sandra, what cut of steak did YOU use? Also, it looks like there is a little sauce of some sort on your rice, is that the gravy from the steak? And do you cook the steaks to desired doneness (medium rare, medium, etc) or are they traditionally cooked well done/all the way through? I can't wait to try this.

Lori, I use Frying steak for these and I cook them until they're done, they're pretty thin so they cook all the way through. As for the rice, yes, after you cook the steaks there will be some gravy in the skillet, that's what I drizzle over the rice and the egg etc. :)

I love reading your Portuguese recipes...I remember eating this one many times when I lived in Portugal for 1 1/2 years. And you're right...it HAS to be french fries fried, not baked! (:

Do you remember a dish called (I think it was) Milho...like corn meal or something that was boiled down to be almost a rubbery cut out? I never liked it baked...but I once had it baked then fried and it was amazing! Do you remember something like that? I'd love to get the recipe!

About Me

BLOGGER, MOM, WIFE, HOMEMAKER

I'm a stay at home mom to a beautiful daughter and a handsome son. A once Air Force Wife now living the quiet life, with her retired Sergeant.
I am Portuguese, and spent most of my childhood in South Africa.
I love God, England, crocheting, cooking, period dramas, sewing, reading canning, old pioneer times, photography and thrift store shopping.
I live a simple but good life with my beautiful family.